FX costs halved, time slashed; how Bibliotheque upgraded royalties payments
International production music library Bibliotheque Music chose Centtrip to transform its end-to-end, multi-currency cashflows.
Download the full Centtrip Story to read more from Tom Simpson about his experience with Centtrip.
In our latest Centtrip Story, cofounder-director Tom Simpson talks about Bibliotheque Music’s unique approach to library music, working with its composers and musicians around the world, and how Centtrip has helped revolutionise its handling of multi-currency receipts and payments.
The challenges of traditional banking and international batch payments
As an international library, Bibliotheque receives money from publishing partners around the world. Every six months, it makes royalties payments to the 800 or so composers on its books.
But, like many organisations, Bibliotheque was finding its bank’s approach inflexible and expensive. As Tom explains:
“We found it impossible to have a personal relationship or a nuanced approach with someone at our bank. We were being paid from all over the world in different currencies, but all the money flowed into our GBP bank account at fixed exchange rates. We had no control over how and when that happened or what the rates were. And there were all manner of charges associated with sending and receiving overseas income as well.”
At the same time, the process of paying royalties to a growing roster of composers – each by individual bank transfer – was becoming burdensome.
Centtrip, a trusted and valued business partner
After evaluating different alternative providers, Bibliotheque chose Centtrip.
“Centtrip stood head and shoulders above the others,” Tom says. “Why? It was the people. Right from our initial chats … it felt like a good fit.”
Centtrip’s safeguarded, multi-currency account and international payments solution enables Bibliotheque to receive and hold 15 major currencies in a single account. Funds can be converted at fair and transparent exchange rates as required, or held in their original currency until needed. Centtrip’s batch payment solution handles the process of making large volumes of royalties payments.
“It’s now incredibly simple,” Tom explains. “I move the money into the Centtrip account, upload the spreadsheet and it’s done.”
“Centtrip saves us money on currency exchange rates and on transaction charges,” he continues. “Using Centtrip also means we can hold money in different currencies and use it to pay our international composers. That means they get a better deal as well. We’ve removed a lot of friction and streamlined our whole process which is good for everyone involved. Overall, our foreign exchange costs have been halved by working with Centtrip.”
Streamlining the process for international royalties payments has dramatically reduced the time burden on Tom’s small team:
“Before, the payments process took two weeks in time across a whole month. Now, the whole process is complete in a single morning. Centtrip has absolutely revolutionised our payment process.”
